Once in a Lullaby
by MakoRain
Summary: Tifa can't sleep...what can Cloud do to help her get some much needed rest? Cute CloTi fluffy oneshot.First of 'dream within a dream' series


A/N: This fic is from personal experience that I have gone through recently with lack of sleep. Since I couldn't sleep…I expressed it in a FF7 story as always, as so here's the remedy I would love to have…if only I had Cloud, but no, he belongs to Tifa, so all is well. I own nothing FF7…just the title "Queen of Fluff" I have been dubbed for obvious reasons

"**Once in a Lullaby"**

**By MakoRain**

(All Tifa POV)

It was too quiet, all she could hear was his breathing and her thoughts that refused to give her rest and so she lay there helplessly staring at the ceiling with unweary eyes. Tifa had only gone to bed an hour ago, she'd fall asleep eventually…or so she thought as the red numbers of her nightstand's clock slowly changed, showing just how little time had passed.

She rolled over, trying to get comfortable on the mattress without bothering its other occupant who seemed deep in slumber. His spiky blonde hair was unruly as always and his well defined arms spread out over the covers, looking cold and exposed to the chill room air. As if answering her thoughts, the heater picked that moment to turn on, adding noise to the noiseless house. This didn't help any as the system running through the entire building awakened the whole structure adding to Tifa's sleep deprived state.

It had been a busy day: up with the kids at the crack of dawn to make breakfast and for the children to spend time with their returned hero and father figure before he left for deliveries with a quick kiss on the cheek for her, then the kids were off to school and she was left doing chores like washing dishes and making the bar ready for the lunch rush. The rest of the night had gone by in a blur…drinks were flying and people were talking and laughing merrily over dinner while Tifa, Marlene and Denzel at a table amongst the crowd; _he'd_ be out for much later who knew where or for how long. But she couldn't focus on that, instead paying attention to getting the kids to bed and closing the bar for the night.

Tifa had been up until he came home; when she couldn't sleep, it hardly helped to try with him gone. She didn't even get her good night/welcome home kiss. Tired and weary, he led the way to bed and this is where she had now been for the last three hours…the clock blearily confirmed this with its evil red numbers. Need sleep, her mind thought, able to pester her with a to do list but unable give her what she required.

_Maybe I could wake him…no, he needs his sleep…_

"Cloud?" Tifa whispered against her better judgment but he didn't hear her, he just laid still and sleeping peacefully beside her restless form.

_Maybe its better that way, no one likes a cranky Cloud and he is not a morning person, after all._

Tifa lay on her back and was struck with how bare the ceiling was as she started counting the lines on the plaster of the ceiling again…_maybe I should put some glow in the dark stars up there… _when the body beside her stirred.

"Stop moving, Teef," Cloud said, more asleep than lucid and found her body, pulling her closer to hold her facing him, their noses touching.

"Sorry…I just can't sleep."

She felt him nuzzle her neck and kiss it before moving on to her shoulder.

_Well, at least I got some kind of kiss tonight._

Soon she found his lips on hers in a sweet tender kiss; the kind he knew swept her away and relaxed her body almost immediately.

"Better?" he said, smiling into her mouth and she replied against his lips.

"Yes…thank you."

As an answer, Cloud just pulled her closer, letting her revert to facing away from him so he could hold her from behind, matching his body perfectly hugged around hers. A tickle of breath by her ear and the hint of a quiet melody alerted her to his humming.

"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high…"

Tifa leaned into Cloud, letting him serenade her like he used to where they were teenagers and she couldn't sleep; she loved this song and got lost in the possibilities it held.

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, high above the chimney tops that's where you'll find me."

Her eyes slid shut as she hummed along to Cloud's breathed song, finally able to relax her exhausted mind.

"Goodnight, Cloud."

"Goodnight, Tifa…the dreams that you dream of once in a lullaby…"

"I love you."

"Love you too…now sleep…the dream that you dare to, oh why, oh why can't I?"

"Very very much?" They were the last words before she could drift off, and she knew his reply by heart but took comfort in hearing it every night before sleep took over.

"Very very much."

"Someday I wish upon a star…wake up where you are…"

_Dreams really do come true_

_The End_

* * *

(For those of you who are interested or don't know, the song inspiration is "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" made famous by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz). 


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